George Cranfield Berkeley

Admiral Sir George Cranfield Berkeley, (10 August 1753 – 25 February 1818) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who was highly popular yet controversial in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain. Serving on several ships, Berkeley saw action at all three Battles of Ushant, commanded fleets in the West Indies and off Ireland and governed the supply routes to Portugal and Spain which kept Wellington's armies in the field during the Peninsular War. He also enjoyed an extensive political career, reforming military practices in Britain and participating in several prominent scandals including feuds with Charles James Fox and Hugh Palliser.

Early career George Cranfield Berkeley was born in 1753, the third son of Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley, and his courtier wife Elizabeth Drax. His father died when George was only two and the title Earl of Berkeley passed to his elder brother Frederick. George was privately educated until nine, when he attended Eton College, gaining a formal education until 1766 when he was attached to the royal yacht Mary, commanded by a relative, Augustus Keppel. Mary conveyed Princess Caroline Matilda to Denmark, where she was married to Christian VII of Denmark. Berkeley acted as page at her wedding.

Family Berkeley had a total of five children. Sir George Berkeley was a general and father of the 7th Earl of Berkeley. Louisa Emily Anne Berkeley married firstly Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, on 17 November 1807. They had three daughters. She married secondly Charles Ellis, 1st Baron Seaford, although no children were born of this union. Georgiana Mary Berkeley married Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Francis Seymour. They had three sons and four daughters. Mary Caroline Berkeley (d. 1873) married Henry Fitzroy, 5th Duke of Grafton. Grenville Berkeley was a politician.